Ribs
by Snakes bizarre adventure
Summary: Giorno wakes up back in his own past, in an alternate timeline. He is a toddler again and this time he has a twin. And that's not the last world shattering change he is going to experience. No, not when his father DIO shows up one night to take him and his new twin away from his abusive mother.
1. Chapter 1

Giorno looked around the dark, cold, empty room in confusion. One moment he was at home doing paperwork at his desk, the next, the world was spinning all around him and fading to black. Then he wakes up here. Giorno is a very smart man. He could put two and two together. Clearly this is the work of an enemy stand. He could say that with confidence after all that he went through with his gang.

The trouble Giorno was having was coming to terms with *where* he was.

He knew this place well. Try as hard as he did to forget it.

It was *his* room.

The room that was the only place he ever saw for 3 years.

He was somehow back in his own childhood.

The only thing about this that scared more than him being a toddler again, having to relive his past, was the much smaller toddler that was fast asleep next to him in the shoddy second-hand crib. That was not supposed to be there.

It made what might have been a simple puzzle new pieces he didn't know what to do with. Giorno has no clue who's stand caused this, but as soon as he did, he planned to give them a fate worse than Diavolo.

It took Giorno a few days to fully understand where he was in his timeline and who the other child was. It was some time before his 3rd birthday in early spring. The child was his twin.

He honestly didn't expect that. He had hoped that it was someone else's child, a temporary thing that would be gone soon. The little girl did look exactly like he had when he was young, so he supposed he should not have been surprised.

Another shock was the discovery that his stand Golden Experience had been brought to this world with him. (And his hair had stayed the same gold that he was most accustomed to)

Gio was getting sick of this weak body. Being unable to move about freely or go outside and feel the hot sun on his face was making him stir crazy. His stand was the only thing keeping him sane. He would spend hours making things with his stand, much to the joy of the toddler (it was still odd to think of them as his sister, Trish being the closest he had had to one 'before') the small girl was in love with all the pretty flowers or fluffy animals he would create from their own ragged toys.

Giorno counted himself lucky his mother was neglectful enough she didn't seem to notice the change of color his hair had gone through, not that he particularly expected her to have noticed.

He had known the woman was a horrible parent, but reliving his childhood with his adult mind brought all of it under a new light. He honestly had no clue how he had not died the first time. Out of the week he had been here the woman fed them five times. Five fucking times.

Giorno grew sick of that real fast and began using his stand to make fruits and vegetables when the woman was not looking (which was often) to feed himself and the other toddler. By the end of the month Gio had managed to fix a little of his and his new twin's current malnutrition, but there was only so much he could do with what he had. Also by the end of the month he had finally learned his twin's name. She was called Ume.

Giorno had not wanted to get too close to the new figure in this version of his life, but after a full month of having to care for her (if he didn't he feared she would really die, she was so much smaller than he was), and only having her for company, he could feel himself giving in. New world or not, she shared his blood now.

In what felt like no time at all the twins turned 3 and were thrown into a preschool with no warning from the adult. There was a brief moment where Gio thought she was abandoning them. (He wished she did) The time spent at preschool was hell for Gio. It was loud, smelly and there was no way he could possibly relate to the other children.

His twin was not faring any better. She had yet to speak (and he was beginning to doubt she even knew how to) and would just hide behind Giorno the whole time. At least the staff were kind. Giorno counted that as a small blessing. The three women who ran the place fed and cleaned them. They would even spend time teaching Ume to read, which he was glad for one less thing for him to do. They seemed to accept Giorno's strange behavior without question, another blessing to be thankful for. He would try to emulate the children when watched, but it was harder than he thought it would be. To act so stupid and unaware was almost painful.

The only eventful things to really happen for him or his twin in the next year were a few visits from CPS. Giorno always felt disappointed (and he hated himself for ever getting his hopes up) when the social workers that came by bought his mother's act. She always put on a show of being a mother when they came by. (To the confusion of his twin, who had no clue why her mother changed behavior)

He often thought about just taking his twin and just leaving this place. But he knew it would be a bad idea, between the foster system children could get caught up in caring for his sister, he could never justify it. Perhaps if it was just him he could handle it, but with Ume. He couldn't do that to her.

Then *that* man came.

It all went downhill from there.

* * *

Something about there being two children made his stepfather so much worse than he had ever been in Gio's original timeline.

If Gio attempted to escape the man, he would just turn his fist on to Ume. So Giorno ended up going out of his way to draw the man's attention away from his sister. He couldn't bear letting her get hurt. Before waking up in the world, he had thought he had his PTSD handled, he really did. He had to learn how wrong he was the hard way.

It took all of his self control to keep Golden Experience from just destroying the man. He was not even sure why he tried so hard, often toying with the idea of just killing the man and being done with it. But sadly some instinct kept him from letting his stand loose on the man.

The man pulled them out of their current preschool and enrolled them in a much closer, cheaper and shittier one. Twice as many kids, less staff everything was worse. This school was his first time dealing with bullies in his new life. Thankfully he scared them off with ease. With his stand the poor children stood no chance. But this further isolated him and his sister from anyone but each other. Now they were never approached by anyone else.

A mixed blessing.

Three months before their 4th birthday a world shattering change to the timeline came, and Gio was floored by it. The man had been planning the wedding and move to Italy, something he was actually excited for, when it happened.

It must have been late at night, 1 am or so when a pounding on their door woke up the house. Giorno was quick to comfort his twin, trying to keep her quiet. There was soon shouting from the living room. The man seemed to be enraged, the woman however seemed to be happy? He carefully got off their small mattress (the crib was long gone) and looked through the cracked door.

His blood seemed to freeze in his veins.

It was DIO

Giorno could not understand why he was here. He had never even seen the man in the flesh in his past timeline. Why? Why?

All thoughts came to a sudden stop when DIO turned around and looked right at Giorno.

God, Giorno had thought he knew fear, but looking the man who was his father in the eye was the most terrifying thing he had ever been through.

"Is that my son?"

When DIO spoke, Gio could feel his hair stand on end. As weird as it was for him to acknowledge, the man's voice was pure sin. He understood now how so many women walked happily to their death.

"Yes Lord DIO!" His mother replied, good god the woman was falling over self to please him (much to the blind rage of his stepfather, was was being restrained by someone Giorno couldn't fully see)

"Boy, come here."

Giorno felt his legs moving to obey the command long before his mind even processed the words. Only a small hand grabbing his own broke the moment. He turned to see his sister holding his hand, her eyes still foggy with sleep and blinking up at him owlishly.

"Oh?" DIO's voice cut through the silence, he turned to the woman.

"Who is that?"

"I-I didn't mention? I had twins, she is yours too." His mother answered now nervous as she looked away from DIO. DIO just let out a hum.

"Come children I won't ask again." he spoke.

Giorno quickly made his way over to the man that was his father. Now that he could see the living room fully, half of it was trashed, presumably by his stepfather. The man holding his stepfather in a headlock was huge, almost as big as DIO. Had long brown hair and was wearing a strange get up. Lots of hearts. Giorno looked up at DIO as he held his twin close. His mind was looking for ways out in case things went south.

DIO, it seemed, picked up on his thoughts and let out a chuckle. He crouched and gripped Giorno's chin, turning his head side to side looking him over.

"What's your name boy." The vampire's eyes were piercing and it took Giorno a second to respond.

"G-" he caught himself quickly "Haruno." He corrected, hating the way the name felt on his tongue. "This is Ume, she can't talk yet." He forced himself to meet DIO's eyes. That seemed to satisfy him as he stood and turned to the others.

"Who laid hands on my son?" His voice was laced with ice. This was not at all what Giorno had expected DIO to stay and he looked up at him in surprise.

Blood drained from his mother's face, and his stepfather stopped struggling for a moment, but neither adults said a word. This was the wrong thing to do apparently. DIO suddenly appeared in front of his mother and gripped her by the neck (Giorno realized that DIO hadn't even used his stand, he was just that fast)

"I asked a question, woman."

"H-h-he d-did" she choked out. DIO he let the woman go..

"Vanilla Ice, take the children outside." His voice was empty of emotion.

The man holding their stepfather let him go, dropping him on the floor with a heavy thud.

The huge wall of living muscle picked up both Giorno and Ume (with surprising care and little effort) and with one child in each arm took them out of the apartment.

Not even the closed door could shield them from the sound of the screams.

* * *

AN:  
Hello! Thank you all for following and liking this fic! I did not expect this much love. SO! I have gone back a re-edited the whole thing! I will hopefully have some new chapters up soon for you all. and thanks again for your support!  
-Snake


	2. Chapter 2

The huge man bizarrely named Vanilla Ice took the two of them to a very nice car that was parked outside the building. He set Giorno and Ume down and opened the door.

"In."

Giorno gently took his sister's hand and led her inside the car. His mind was in overdrive. He had no doubt that this man was a stand user, he remembered Polnareff's stories about Egypt. He froze in the process of buckling up Ume.

Vanilla Ice was the one who killed his dear mentor's friends.

He couldn't keep his hands from trembling. Once he finished bucking his sister into the car before settling in next to her. Wrapping his pudgy child arms around her tightly. He had no clue what DIO wanted. His actions only further confused him. Why was he so angered by someone hitting them? The man was fucking insane and quite clearly an evil person. Between Pol and Mr. Kujo he had gotten quite a clear picture of the man.

They waited a while for DIO to return, Gio was just falling asleep when he heard DIO enter the car. He chose the back seat (with Ume having been placed in the middle as she was, was now much too close to the man for Gio's tastes)

DIO was clean of any... _mess _he made of Giorno's parents.

"Drive." He ordered Vanilla Ice, his voice still clear of any emotions.

Gio watched the vampire holding his sister tight. DIO looked over at him and simply raised a brow at him. Giorno frowned. He couldn't get a clear read on DIO and it put him on edge.

"What's the matter?" DIO asked, his tone much softer than it had been, once again throwing Giorno for a loop. He struggled to find a response.

"You killed them." He found he couldn't meet the man's eyes.

"I did."

There was silence for a while. Just the sound of the car and the roads around them.

"What are you going to do with us?" Gio finally asked, trying to keep calm. DIO just raised his brow again, causing Giorno to scowl.

"You are my son. I could not leave you there then when I found out about you. Though your sister was quite the surprise however. I never imagined I had a daughter." Giorno struggled to accept DIO's words. This couldn't just be family obligation. This man did nothing that didn't profit him in some way.

"How did you know? Mother never even mentioned talking to you." He frowned. "Why do you believe we are yours?" Of course he knew the answer to that, but he needed to play up his age and ignorance however he could. He shuddered to think what DIO would do if he knew that Giorno was from another time. DIO smirked. He reached over and pulled down Gio's loose collar, exposing the star on his shoulder.

"That mark, it shows you carry my blood." He pulled down his own shirt, showing his stolen star, and the scar around his neck.

Giorno let out a small "oh"

"As for how I knew about you, I always had someone watching your… *mother*. I knew she may have had a child of mine. When I got word of a boy with gold hair, I decided I would visit." DIO looked from Giorno to Ume, causing Gio to pull the girl closer.

"No need to worry I will never lay a hand on you or her." There was a strange level of conviction in his voice that only added to the mystery in Giorno's head.

"You two will be safe now. So long as you obey me."

Gio met the man's eyes again.

"Sleep child. We will speak more later." He spoke with a sense of finality. DIO wasn't just humoring him it seemed.

It was going to be a long night.

* * *

Gio fell asleep against his will. When he woke he was tucked into a large fancy bed, his twin beside him. He sat up and looked around the room rubbing sleep from his eyes. They seemed to be in a fancy hotel. It was also empty besides Ume and himself. The bedside clock read 10am. He slid out of the bed and made his way to the bathroom. Once he entered the room again, steam from the shower following him he noticed someone else was in the room. A hotel maid.

"Hello sweetie, your daddy ordered some breakfast for you." The woman smiled over at him as he watched her warily. True to her word though a tray of breakfast foods was sitting on the table.

"Thank you miss." He said, using his 'I am young and sweet' voice. It worked like a charm and the woman cooed over how cute he was. It took a few minutes for her to leave, her fussing was beginning to get on his nerves. It was the appearance of Vanilla Ice (still dressed in his ridiculous one piece) that got her out of the room. Vanilla Ice set a bag down on the table next to the food.

"Clothes. Lord DIO will be sleeping during the day. We leave after the sunset. Don't leave the room. Order whatever you need from room services."

With that the man left, Giorno staring after him mildly shocked. He was once again glad he was older than his body. God, what three year-old could follow orders like that? Sighing, he went over to wake his sister. He hoped she was going to be ok with all the nonsense that was happening. Ume woke rather quickly and Giorno helped her bathe, glad for the hotel's excess of soap. They had not had a bath in a while. He dressed her in the new clothes before dressing himself. He will never admit to needing Golden Experience to help. You couldn't make him.

Soon they were clean, fed and watered. He helped his sister back to the bed and sat next to her, suddenly feeling very exhausted. God. This whole situation was messed up. Not even mentioning the mess that was DIO. He watched as his twin played with the buttons on the TV remote, more interested in the plastic click each button made than the TV shows.

He looked over to G.E who hadn't gone away during the rather mundane breakfast. The stand seemed to be looking back at him. He sighed again. He had noticed that his stand was rather 'active' often doing things he didn't tell it to. Nothing he didn't want to happen. Just stuff that he would have wanted or asked of his stand had he thought about it.

He had met stands with personalities and a will, Mista's stand for an example. But he had never noticed his own doing anything of the like. He couldn't help but wonder if G.E had always been like this or if he was only just noticing due to the lack of other stimulus. He looked back at his twin who was watching him. He smiled at her.

"Things will be ok Ume." He reached out and patted her hair. On another note he needed to pick a better name for her. Ume didn't fit well with Giovanna. He fully intended to take back his name.

He rather liked the sound of Don Giovanna.

* * *

He spent most of the day helping his sister learning to read. She had yet to speak, either to him or anyone else. She seemed to be enjoying herself. It was just past 7pm when the sun finally set. Ume had fallen asleep, and Gio was drifting in and out himself. Pounding on the door caused Gio to fully wake. When the door opened it was Vanilla Ice.

"We are leaving."

Gio gently woke his sister and helped her out of the bed. Vanilla Ice scooped up the two children and carried them out of the hotel, pointedly ignoring the looks they were getting. Giorno was surprised no one actually called the cops on Vanilla Ice.

DIO was already waiting by the car. He took Ume form Ice and buckled her into a car-seat that had not been in the car the other night. Vanilla Ice tried to help Giorno, but he pushed the man away (well, more like slapped him with his weak noodle arms until the man backed off) Once both children were safely put in the car they set off.

Giorno was too exhausted for another word shattering conversation, so he let his head rest on the cool windowpane. He would occasionally look over at DIO to ensure he didn't do anything to Ume. All the vampire did was smile at the sleepy child. That weirded Gio out more than anything.

Soon the four were on a private plane bound for egypt.

The attendant did her best to make the children comfortable while DIO and Ice talked quietly to each other. A few hours into the fight, Giorno found he was fully awake. Both Ice and Ume were sleeping in their chairs. DIO was reading under a soft overhead light. The man looked over to Gio, his gaze curious.

"Son, what name were you going to give me before?"

Giorno cursed in his head. He had hoped the man didn't catch the slip up. He struggled to find an excuse. After a long silence (which he was even more angry over, he was better at lying than this! Why did this stupid man make Giorno so anxious!)

"I don't like my name." He finally spoke, doing his best to sound honest. Weaving both truth and lie. "I picked a new name. Haruno didn't feel right. I found a name in a book that I liked." He looked at DIO hoping the man wouldn't question it.

"What name did you pick?"

Giorno wished that DIO would look anywhere else.

"Giorno." He whispered, breaking eye contact and looking at his hands. "I like it more."

DIO was silent for a while. Giorno was terrified the man didn't believe him.

"Giorno. Acceptable. I will allow it."

Giorno looked up in shock. DIO had returned to his book, flipping the page idly. What the ever living hell was this man's motivations. A few hours later DIO had gone to a back room of the plane to sleep for the day. Ice was awake and just sitting in his seat quietly doing nothing. Both Ume and Gio had been fed and a children's movie was put up on the screen of the airplane. Gio was ignoring Ice while trying to keep his sister occupied. He couldn't decide if Ume was more a sister or his child at this point.

Ume had been adjusting to the change in environment rather well. He didn't know if she knew they would never see their 'parents' again, but she seemed to be happy to be away from them. What little he had seen of DIO interacting with Ume she seemed to like him well enough. Though she did seem wary of Vanilla Ice.

* * *

It was night again when the plane finally touched down in Egypt. DIO had picked Ume up and carried her off the plane, while Gio refused to be carried and walked off with his own feet. All the carrying made him feel even more useless than he was. Once they made it to the airport's parking lot they were met by another person. They stood out to Giorno due to their striking resemblance to DIO. Down to the golden hair, though he was smaller in stature.

"Finally. I have been waiting for hours." The man growled out, frowning at DIO. The man looked first at Ume still in DIO's arms and then to Giorno.

"What the fuck are those?"

DIO narrowed his eyes at the man

"Watch your mouth Diego. They are mine, your niece and nephew as it stands. You will treat them as such." He pushed past the smaller man, glaring at him, and got Ume settled into the car.

Giorno watched Diego intently. This was someone new to him. He didn't remember any mention of DIO having a living family. Diego caught Giorno staring and scowled at him.

"Whatever, let's just get out of here."

Soon they were all in the car and off into the depths of Cairo. DIO's estate was huge and grand. It was even bigger than Giorno's had been. DIO's vast wealth was shown off wherever he went. Once they reached the door it opened showing a tiny old woman. If Giorno's memory was correct she must have been the one Diavolo sold the stand arrows too.

"Welcome home Lord DIO." Her voice was not a pleasant one. DIO just walked past her, the rest of their little group following.

"Did you prepare rooms for the children like I asked?"

"Yes Lord! We got clothes, toys and anything your children could want." The woman followed after them moving quickly to catch up. Diego quickly disappeared into the mansion without a goodbye.

Once they made it deeper into the house DIO handed the sleeping Ume off to Vanilla Ice and left with another word.

"Come, I will show you your rooms." Enyaba began walking, Ice following after. Gio had to rush after his much smaller legs working hard to catch up.

The old woman stopped in front of a door. She opened it and showed a rather tastefully decorated room. It was clearly for Giorno and Ume. It seems they decided not to give them separate rooms. Much to his relief.

Vanilla Ice set Ume down on one of the beds and quickly left, leaving the two kids alone with Enyaba. The old woman looked at the two before she also left without another word. Gio quickly got Ume and himself ready for bed, thankful that they were left alone. With the help of G.E they were tucked in and soon asleep.


	3. Chapter 3

It had been close to 3 am when Giorno had fallen asleep, he found himself waking sometime around noon. He was finding himself frustrated with how much he had been sleeping. He forced his body fully awake, got dressed and left the room without waking his twin. He set out down the halls intent on exploring the manor while his father was asleep.

It didn't take him too long to figure out the layout of the building, it was rather close to the home Trish had moved into not long before he woke up here. Giorno pushed away the thoughts of his friends quickly. He was already more emotionally compromised than he wanted to be. After an hour or so of exploring he found a courtyard with an overgrown garden. He made himself at home by one of the flowerbeds while he used G.E on the flowers, helping the half dead plants bloom again.

He had nearly finished the whole garden when he heard a noise behind him. Gio's blood ran cold, he had been so distracted he hadn't noticed anyone approaching. He whipped around to see his 'Uncle' frowning down at him. Gio also noticed for the first time a bandage that Diego had on his face, and a strange patch of scars that peeked out from underneath it that looked almost like scales.

"Jesus kid. Does DIO know about this?" Diego frowned at the child and the stand, his tone irritated. Giorno shook his head trying to quickly think of an acceptable story for how he got his stand and cursing his own carelessness. Giorno briefly recalled Jotaro explaining how one of his nephew's ( or was it an uncle? His family tree was a mess) stands came to be thanks to DIO.

"He is my friend. I got really sick and he showed up then I was better." Giorno did his best to ensure he sounded like a child, and that his panic was packed tightly away.

"Do you even know what that is?" Diego questioned. After a tense moment he narrowed his eyes at Gio. Before getting up close to Giorno, sniffing at the air between them.

"You smell anxious, what are you hiding?"

Gio looked up at his uncle, his mind working fast to think up a reasonable response.

"I don't want to get in trouble…" Giorno trailed off, putting all of his acting skills to use. "Oka-san would get mad if she knew. She doesn't like us having friends." Giorno decided to weave a bit of truth into his act hoping his messed up home life will take all of Diego's attention.

The misdirection seemed to work, as a growl of anger slipped from his uncle. The older man put a hand on Giorno's head and ruffled the golden locks.

"Don't worry about that here kiddo. DIO will be over the fucking moon that you have one."

The affectionate gesture surprised Gio. He couldn't help the wide eyed look of shock he gave Diego. The man seemed to catch this and he let out an annoyed huff.

"Fuck kid, what did they do to you two." He reached down and lifted Giorno into his arms, causing the boy to squeak in shock. That caused Diego to snort. "Get used to it kiddo."

G.E. disappeared as the two went back inside. Gio watched the man intently trying to figure out his intentions. Once again Diego seemed to catch his gaze, he let out a laugh.

"You looking for something?"

Giorno silently cursed. Diego was stupidly observant. He needed to be more careful around him. He just shrugged in response to his question.

"You are nice." He mumbled, hiding his face in the man's shoulder. Diego let out another snort of amusement.

"Not in the slightest. Fuck. If you think I'm nice they must have really messed you up."

* * *

Soon the two of them were in the dining room, Gio saw his sister sitting at the table, a man he hadn't seen before helping her eat what he assumed was lunch.

"Oi, I thought you were supposed to be out hunting Joestars?" Diego's tone was quite condescending. He seemed to dislike this man whoever he was. The man in question seemed to be American and was dressed like a cowboy.

"It's not like I want to play babysitter Diego." The man sounded annoyed. "Enyaba called me over to help watch the tykes. Well, more like she demanded I did." The man was clearly frustrated at this arrangement. Diego laughed at the man as he set Gio down at the table.

"Well have fun." He waved at the man and left the room, leaving Gio alone with the stranger.

Giorno looked over the cowboy, trying to decide if he was a threat or not. The cowboy didn't seem to like his stare as he did his best to pretend that Gio was not currently staring holes into him. Ume was completely oblivious to all of the tension. She was just trying her best to get the spoon of soup into her mouth on her own. It was rather cute how hard she was trying. It was her tiny noise of joy when she successfully ate the bite with minimal mess that finally brought the man and Gio out of their non-staring contest. Gio couldn't help the smile form crossing his face.

"Good job!" He praised her. Spooking the man who looked between the two of them. Ume let out a happy laugh.

"Uhhh, well." The cowboy struggled to figure out how to talk to either of the children.

"I'm Giorno." He interrupted the cowboy, annoyed.

"Uh, yeah, I'm Hol Horse, Enyaba wanted me to watch ya today." The man looked so awkward trying to have a conversation with a 3 going on 4 year old that Girono couldn't help but giggle.

After a long and painfully awkward lunch with Hol Horse, the man left them alone in their room as fast as he could. Giorno was glad to finally be left alone. Well alone as he was ever going to be with his twin around.

He climbed up on his bed and summoned G.E. to help Ume. Once they settled he looked his twin over. She seemed happy, and it looked like no one hurt her while he was away. When his eyes met hers he was stuck by how intelligent they were. Due to her lack of speech he never bothered to assume she was more than an average three year old. He was only now second guessing that smiled at him and took his hands in hers.

He pulled her into a hug.

"I think things will be better now." He whispered. Ume nodded her head in response.

* * *

Giorno looked over at the door as it opened. He had been helping his sister read when they were interrupted. It was Hol Horse, looking anxious.

"Uh, Lord DIO wants to talk with ya."

Giorno nodded and got off the bed then helped Ume. He hadn't even noticed how late it was. His and Ume's sleep schedules were messed up to all hell. The two followed the man to what Giorno assumed was DIO's room or study. The man opened the large door for them and motioned for them to enter.

The room was dark but for a few candles, but there was light enough to see DIO as he lay across an antique couch with a book in hand. Their father set aside the book and watched the two of them approach. Ume seemed quite happy, stumbling over her feet to reach him, her arms outstretched. DIO gently took her into his arms, settling the girl on his lap. Giorno came over at a much more sedate pace, still unsure of the man. Hol Horse vanished after the two were in the room, leaving them alone with DIO. The man smiled at Gio, something that felt beyond strange.

"How have you settled in?" DIO asked, looking at Giorno intently.

Gio nods in response while he pulls one of the arms chairs closer to the couch. DIO watched amused as Gio struggled to move the chair. Once Giorno settled in his chair, DIO spoke.

"Your uncle told me you had something you would like to share."

Giorno froze and looked up at DIO. He should have known Diego would have told his father about the stand.

"Oh, yeah. I have an invisible friend." He spoke softly and did his best to imagine that he was speaking to anyone else.

"He makes plants grow…"

DIO smiled down at his son.

"There is no need to be afraid. Will you show me?" He did his best to keep his own excitement from his voice.

Giorno played with the thought of refusing DIO's request, but brought out his stand anyway. G.E manifested next to Gio, it's pupilless eyes seemingly watching DIO intently. DIO let out a deep laugh.

"Fantastic!" DIO smiled at his son, his next words were interrupted by Ume. Who let out a happy laugh, surprising both men. Giorno watched in awe when DIO smiled down at the girl.

"What are you laughing at?" DIO lifted Ume to face him, Ume gave him a happy expression and wrapped her tiny arms around him. Everything was silent for a moment before DIO hugged her in return. After a few seconds DIO looked back over to Gio.

"So, how does your 'friend' work? Do they have a name?" DIO began questioning Giorno about Golden Experience.

He explained the bare minimum of his stand's powers, even turning a scrap of paper into a tiny frog, making Ume giggle. DIO was fascinated by his stand, and seemed to be proud. Nothing about this man's actions suggested the monster Jotaro and his grandfather spoke about. The whole hour spent with his father felt like a dream. One he might have had before he grew up and recognized that no one was going to love him like a parent should. It scared him.

Giorno hadn't even realized he had begun to hyperventilate until he felt a hand brushing his curly bangs away from his face.

"Giorno, breathe." DIO's tone was soft but commanding. He looked up at his father wide-eyed. DIO was watching him intently, his hand now resting on his head.

"You are safe here Giorno." There was such a tone of finally in the man's voice, almost as if he was daring the universe to prove him wrong.

DIO sifted Ume so she sat on one leg and scooped Gio up with the other, placing him on the other leg. He held the children close, not saying anything. They sat like that for a long time.

* * *

Soon a week passed at the mansion. The twins settled into a steady routine. First they would wake around 2 in the afternoon (with a bedtime around 1 am at the latest, though Ume would often drift off before 11) so they could spend time with their nocturnal father yet still have time in the sun. Thankfully this schedule seemed to work just fine for the family, most of DIO's other servants followed a similar schedule if they weren't completely nocturnal as well.

Enyaba or Hol over saw the children while DIO was sleeping or busy. Hol being the two's favored caretaker, he was less strict than the old woman and once he got over his awkwardness he was not too bad. He would even play with Ume when Giorno was too tired or busy.

It was all business with Enyaba. She wanted to 'train' Giorno from the moment she discovered his stand. She treated him like the second coming of DIO. She was harsh and critical. She taught everything from academics to combat and everything she knew of stands and their abilities. Even though a normal person would never think to teach toddlers any of this, she expected perfection.

Ume was always unable to keep up with the woman, and she was soon mostly ignored by her. This bothered Giorno to no end, but he let it go for the time being, and resolved to teach Ume on his own.

Ume had still not spoken a single word. She made noises, laughed and cried but no spoken words. Each time someone, even Giorno, tried to get her to speak she would just smile sadly and shake her head. It was another mystery that Gio filed away for a later date.

Diego was another mystery. Giorno rarely saw him, and he had only ever seen him around DIO the one time when they arrived. From what he could gather from the gossip he overheard from the housekeepers was that he was really DIO's brother, but not a vampire? Somehow his own stand was responsible for his life span. He had been alive but in hiding the whole time DIO was in the ocean, but came back when DIO resurfaced. This really didn't fit with the history of Giorno's original timeline.

Two weeks passed and the twins had turned four. DIO had thrown a small party, just him and Diego and the twins. The other person's of the house were sent away. It was a rather nontraditional event. There was no cake and no wrapped presents. Just the four of them in DIO's library. They (aside from DIO) ate a lavish dinner and the brothers made small talk.

It was peaceful.


	4. Chapter 4

The next few months were a blur. For all that Giorno could tell, DIO was truly acting like a father. Caring for them and, as much as he refused to believe it, he seemed to love them. They never saw him often, maybe an hour or so a day, sometimes more or less. But during that time he really acted as a parent should.

He helped Ume read, he gave Gio advice on his stand. He was even big on physical contact. Often holding one of them or giving hugs. He would frequently kiss Ume on the head or ruffle Gio's hair.

It took all his Giorno's willpower to keep from letting his emotions get the better of him, in the face of all the parental care he had been longing for his whole life. It was hard.

Thankfully there were a few things that helped him keep his wits about him. Sometimes it was the thick smell of blood that clung to their father, or a scream from a victim that regained their senses before their death or the vacant eyes of one of their father's new victims.

Though times like that were rare. It seemed that DIO, (and a lesser extent Diago) did all they could to keep the twins from seeing the truth of what happened in the mansion. If Giorno had not been an adult in a child's body he would very likely never have known at all.

Between his twin and the babysitters DIO assigned them, Giorno was always busy. The days slipped by without his notice. If it were not for the subtle disappearance of DIO's henchmen Gio would have never noticed the passing of time at all. Once he did he felt his body cold.

The Joestars were on their way to Egypt.

Honestly Giorno didn't know what to make of that fact. But he soon had another thing to worry about, pushing all worries of the impending Joestars out of his mind.

Ume had fallen deathly ill. They all knew what it ment. (At least they hoped they did)

Giorno was on edge, he spent hours with his sister, helping her and praying that she would pull though. While he was busy caring for her he could easily push away the complex feelings that popped up when he thought about his twin having a stand.

DIO was practically excited to find his other child might gain a stand. It was rather unsettling for the residents of the manor to see DIO in such a good mood.

During Ume's illness even Diego was nice to the kids, showing up now and again to either help out with Ume or keep Giorno company.

This was the point in which Giorno had finally let himself understand that for whatever reason, DIO and Diego (to a lesser extent) truly did care for them.

DIO spent his nights split between planning the downfall of the rest of Gio's family and spending time with him.

During her illness Ume never spoke, but Giorno could see that something was happening in her head during her more lucid moments. He was so scared he would lose the only real family he had in this life, so when her fever finally broke a full week after she fell ill.

Around 40 days to go* His brain whispered before he pushed the thought way.

When Ume woke she launched herself at Giorno, hugging her as tight as her little arms could. Giorno returned the hug just as tightly.

The following days the manor waited to see when or how Ume's stand would appear.

It was 27 days until the arrival of Jotaro and his crew when her stand first showed itself.

It was just Girono, DIO and Ume in the room when the stand showed itself. It had a rather graceful build, long and thin legs, feet pointed like a dancer. Long arms that should have been awkward but seemed to flow along with the body. Its head was long and thin, lacking features other than a slight dip where eyes should be. But all this was nothing on its main feature. The creature was, for lack of a better term, fleshy. There was skin on the stand, but even more of its appearance was made of muscle and bone. Blood dripped down from various places and you could see the muscles move and contract as the being shifted. Altogether it made for a disturbing and oddly pretty sight (If one could get over the… everything? Of the stand.)

DIO was awed at the sight, he stood and walked over to inspect the being as Ume looked up at the Stand with curiosity. Giorno took a few moments to adjust to the sight of the thing before he two made is way over to look at it.

The two were interrupted by a soft whisper.

"Ribs… her name is Ribs…"

The two men (well man and child man?) looked at Ume in complete shock.

"UME!" Gio couldn't help but yell, rushing over to his twin who gave him a small smile. "How? When? Why?" His words rushed and excited.

Ume looked at her stand and back to Giorno.

"She fixed me." The small girl shrugged. "Words hurt, now they don't."

DIO looked at her curious as Giorno fussed about asking her if was was ok and such.

DIO interrupted his son to speak.

"What does she do?"

Une looked away from the two, seeming nervous.

"She scares me. She…" The girl paused, trying to find the right words, she finished her sentence in japanese, her first language coming a little easier. "*Moves body*?"

Both DIO and Giorno raised eyebrows at that. Ume just shrugged at them, having no clue how else to explain.

"Can you show us?" Gio finally asked, looking thoughtful. Ume nodded her head and reached out for her stand. Who's long fingers wrapped around her own tiny hand.

There was a loud snap, and the muscle of Ume's arm *pulled away from her bone*

The two were frozen in shock.

The bone and muscle began morphing and shifting, and soon her arm was replaced with a much larger clawed one, the bone and muscle having moved to support the inhuman limb.

Before her brother and father could panic too much she let her arm return to its natural state. Small tears of pain pricked her eyes as she felt each part of her arm changing. She bit her lip though the pain, not wanting to worry her brother.

"Amazing…" Her father whispered, mostly unphased at the sight. He was surprised, sure, but he was not horrified. Giorno, on the other hand, was watching frozen.

The closest thing he had seen like this was the stand that attacked their airplane back in his last life.

After her arm had finished moving and the stand had pulled away and disappeared Gio quickly rushed over to his twin to look over her arm for damage and saw none.

"See?" She smiled at him. Giorno could only wipe the tears from her eyes.

DIO had decided that unlike Giorno, it would be best for Ume to not work on her stand powers for the time being. Citing worry for her young and still growing body. Giorno could not agree faster. Ume agreed, not so sure why, but knowing her stand worried her loved ones.

Now that she could speak and had her own stand, Giorno explained the whole concept of stands to his twin.

During their talks it was clear to Giorno, that while Ume was much smarter than average, she was still a child. Unaware of the complexities of her life.

Somehow, Giorno loved her even more.

Diego didnt know how to feel when he first saw his elder brother with the two brats. Never mind his own distaste for the smelly rug rats, he was beyond shocked to see his borderline insane brother with any child, much less claiming them as his own.

The two of them grew up in a nightmare of a life. An abusive father and dead mother. Even when the Joestars took them in, things were still on the rocks so to say. Not that Diego went anywhere near Jonathans and DIO's feud with a ten foot pole. No he spent the whole time focused on his horseback riding and schooling.

When DIO set the whole thing ablaze (almost literally, even if it was JoJo who set the fire) Diego was quick to run off, leaving his brother to clean up his own mess.

When he found out about his brother's (both of them) death he decided to push away all thoughts of the two and move on with his life.

If he hadn't gotten his stand during a race in the U.S. he probably would have never thought of them again. He knew it was cold and heartless, but he couldn't bring himself to care.

Over the years he lived he grew to regret how he had lived while younger, but there was nothing he could do about the past.

He had kept an eye on the Joestar bloodline as the years moved on, never approaching them, just watching from afar.

It had been DIO who had found Diego when DIO emerged from the sea. His older brother didn't even need to guilt him into joining up with his brother. He had stuck to DIO like glue after they were reunited.

In no way would Diego say he loved his brother. Not that he didn't. It was a complex relationship, and in no way a healthy one. But he would not trade it for anything.

Even, as he sat watching the two rugrats as they chatted quietly on the library floor.

* * *

An: Hia! So I whent back and edited this whole than and I am working on more chapters!! hope you all enjoy! let me know what you all think!


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